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Denise Thimes was still a young girl when she first interacted with Aretha Franklin in St. Louis during the late '60s. Even then the Queen of Soul made a big impression on her.

City of St. Louis and near-suburb residents might think "our" watershed is nothing more than a concrete drainage ditch. Theo Smith, coalition chair, and other members of the River Des Peres Watershed Coalition, see this urban waterway differently.   

River Des Peres drains over 115 square miles in the City of St. Louis and nearest suburbs, before it joins the Mississippi River. A coalition of Water quality and biodiversity advocates are joining together again this fall to raise awareness of the vital role of River Des Peres - and to pull out the trash that compromises its capacity in our regional watershed, overall. The River Des Peres Trash Bash will mobilize dozens of volunteers to support this waterway, on Saturday October 20, 2018, from 8 am to 2 pm.

Results from  2017: Hardworking Trash Bash volunteers cleared 6.6 tons of trash from the rivers and creeks in the River des Peres watershed in just 3 hours! This tally includes 2.2 tons of scrap metal and 1.8 tons (101) of tires that were recycled!

See yourself  this year in this cadre of water quality champions!

Music: Giant Steps performed live at KDHX by Dave Stone Trio

THANKS to Anna Holland, Earthworms' audio engineer

Related Earthworms Conversations:

Eco-Logic Applied to Road Salt Application Protocols (July 2018)

Calvin Lai and David Karandish discuss the ways in which artificial intelligence can be biased and how to make it as objective as possible.

After enduring two cesarean sections and other challenges as a teen mom herself, Tru Kellman started Jamaa Birth Village in 2015 to help address racial disparities in pregnancy-related mortality rates.

Libertarian Nick Kasoff joins Politically Speaking to talk about his bid for St. Louis County executive.

Kasoff is one of four candidates running in the Nov. 6 election. They include incumbent Democratic County Executive Steve Stenger, GOP challenger Paul Berry III and Constitution Party nominee Andrew Ostrowski.

This week’s Politically Speaking zeroes in on how President Donald Trump will affect Missouri’s election cycle — particularly U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill’s re-election bid against Attorney General Josh Hawley.

On the surface, Trump should benefit Hawley — especially since the GOP chief executive won Missouri by nearly 19 percentage points in 2016. Missouri’s public opinion polls show his approval ratings hovering around 50 percent. But Trump has faced a torrent of controversy this week with the Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen court proceedings.

A new Belleville News-Democrat investigation challenges common perceptions about how safe MetroLink is. Joe Bustos and Kelsey Landis discuss their findings.

An Illinois issues forum explores fiscal issues and why people are leaving the state.

What happens to all those used baseballs the umpires toss out of St. Louis Cardinals games? That question from a listener prompted one St. Louis Public Radio reporter to hunt for some answers.

Paul Gallant and Richard Weiss discuss grandparenting and the book “The Grand Journey: Lessons Learned While Navigating Wild Animals and Wilder Times with our Grandkids.”

The historic battleship that was the site of the Japanese surrender during WWII is undergoing major renovations as it prepares for the 75th anniversary of the end of the war.

State Rep. Karla May joins Politically Speaking to talk about her ouster of Sen. Jake Hummel in Missouri’s 4th District.

May is a four-term Democratic lawmaker who represents a portion of western St. Louis in the Missouri House. Her dominating victory over Hummel was arguably the biggest statehouse surprise in the Aug. 7 primary. If May wins in November, she will represent St. Louis with Sen. Jamilah Nasheed. It would mark the first time that two African-American women have represented the city in the Missouri Senate.

Mark Smith, Brenda Talent and Bill Freivogel discuss recent local and national headlines during this month’s Legal Roundtable.

When a chance college dorm meeting prompts parlay about urban ag and life's design, can a live/work partnership based on decay, and inspired by nature, be far behind?

In the everyday and enterprise of Tim Kiefer and Beth Grolmes-Kiefer, for sure YES.

                   
These two purposeful young sustainably-focused city residents are putting their ideals to work, raising and selling the outputs of hens, and transforming vacant property from poison-ivy infestation to rich-soil productivity. How? Primarily by collecting to rot the kitchen and garden scraps of others.

Perennial City Composting is a novel subscription service, providing St. Louis City and central-county area customers with regular organic waste pickup. Their on-the-road amenity feeds abandoned lot soil toward Tim and Beth's near-term goal of NOURISHing their subscribers with veggies from the composted scraps these same folks pay them to haul away.

This Earthworms conversation spotlights the Kiefer's unique, hard-working and visionary efforts, while also enlightening Beth and Tim to options host Jean Ponzi knows from her STL work and previous shows.

Listeners: Be ready to Rot & Roll!

Music: Jingle Bells - played live at KDHX by the Civiltones

Earthworms is honored by engineering this week from Andy Coco, host of KDHX Rhythm Section and station Production Director. THANKS!

Related Earthworms Conversations:

Elaine Ingham: Soil Science Rocks Plant Health (Nov 2017)Fungus Farming for Food & Fun - McCully Heritage Project (Feb 2018)

Food Policy Coalition Grows Health & Resouces (Dec 2015)The Easy Chicken - Fowl Fun Comes to You (Dec 2016)

Developer Joe Edwards and Delmar Loop executive director Rachelle L’Ecuyer discuss the state of the Loop as it awaits an operating trolley and continues to evolve as a dining, shopping and entertainment hub.

Chris King and Sean Joe discuss what sparked their idea to influence the narratives that surround young black males.

With the potential privatization of St. Louis Lambert International Airport still “up in the air,” St. Louis Public Radio’s Melody Walker offers analysis of the latest developments.

The digital age has ushered in many advancements and fresh possibilities – and also new concerns. One of those has to do with the need to protect vital scientific and public data.

St. Louis Public Radio's Ryan Delaney talks about his recent travels in Africa, where he caught up with some fellow St. Louisans.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill joins Politically Speaking to talk about her quest for a third term in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate contests.

The Missouri Democrat was first elected to the Senate in 2006. Before that, McCaskill served as Missouri’s auditor, Jackson County prosecutor and a member of the Missouri House of Representatives.

This time around, McCaskill is squaring off against Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican who is emphasizing his conservative bonafides — and his endorsements from President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.